A new live performance for curious spectators ages 8-88

Created & Presented by
Pig Iron Theatre Company

JUNE 3-29, 2025

The internationally acclaimed Pig Iron, an award-winning physical theater company based in Philadelphia, presents the world premiere of a new adventure imagining Ben Franklin's legacy in an alternate universe where science and magic collide.

During the War of Independence, the British feared that Ben Franklin could control the weather. Franklin’s Key asks: what if that were true? In an alternate universe where Benjamin Franklin’s undiscovered technology has been hidden for centuries underneath Philadelphia’s landmarks, a mystery is unfolding. Two high school prodigies—Temple, a self-taught scientist, and her brother Arturo, a brilliant musician—find themselves caught in a struggle between secret societies dedicated to safeguarding Franklin’s discoveries.
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“One of the few groups taking theater in new directions”

-New York Times

“Daring…Pig Iron is known for going big and scoring.”

-Philadelphia Inquirer

“Bold, imaginative, moving”

-Philadelphia Magazine